Updated 2/13/2014

Preparing UCPS for Long Term Success Frequently Asked Questions

Question: Why does slide 17 say that ALL Waxhaw 6th graders go to Parkwood Middle? Answer: The word almost was dropped in editing. Currently, Waxhaw Elem is a split feeder to Parkwood Middle and that will continue. All students stay in their current cluster. Question: I do not understand the information regarding Fairview ES. Will those students remain in the PR cluster per this proposal? I think so, but want to confirm. It's difficult to see the details in all of the slides. Is it possible to email me a copy so I can open it outside of the Facebook application? Answer: Yes, if you are in the Porter Ridge Cluster now you would stay in the Porter Ridge cluster. That is the best part of the plan. Everyone gets to stay in the cluster they are in now. The Elm schools are reconfigured by grade but everyone still winds up at the Middle and High they are zoned to now. We have sent you a .pdf of the proposal. Question: I think in the districts that are overcrowded we should add a fourth tier school elementary 1-3 fourth tier 3-6 middle 7-9 high 10-12 as the population grows at grade levels the grades could be shifted between schools, they all stay together in the same district no moving but more space? Temporarily add the mobile classrooms until schools are added? I think this is a great solution Answer: All of our clusters are unique. We do not need to mimic the exact reconfiguration for all clusters. We need to do what's best for each cluster. The reconfiguration needs to be tailored to the specific needs of the individual clusters. For clusters that will continue to see large growth, such as Cuthbertson, this is definitely an option that needs to be explored. 4. Question: Can you send me the full PDF file of Preparing UCPS for Long Term a Success Plan? Answer: Yes, a copy has been sent. Anyone else wanting a .pdf version of the plan emailed to them please request a copy via email to UCPSlongtermsuccess@gmail.com Question: Waxhaw Elem is a split feeder school. Under this plan Waxhaw will become a 3-5. What happens to the Waxhaw students in grades k-2 that are not part of the Cuthbertson cluster and will be going to Parkwood? Will they also go to Kensington? Or are you suggesting they go to a different elementary school all together? Answer: Students who will attend Kensington Elm and Waxhaw Elm would complete 5 Grade and then move on to their currently zoned Middle school, Parkwood or Cuthbertson. If you are currently zoned for th Parkwood you would attend Parkwood Middle after completing 5 grade at Waxhaw Elm. If you are currently th zoned for Cuthbertson you would attend Cuthbertson Middle after completing 5 grade at Waxhaw Elm.
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Question: First let me say thank you to many who dedicated many, many hours to put together a comprehensive and solutions based approach to help the County potentially avoid redistricting. I am NOT in favor of redistricting, so it is great to see this plan, I just wish the BOE would have reached out to the community a year ago. Perhaps I missed it in the data, but I did not see any funds to replace WUE and PW. I do not attend either but firmly believe these are rebuild situations not a patchwork solution. For your proposal to receive broad base community support without recommending new schools for these communities but instead add a new 11mm school at Cutty (which I know they need) may fall on deaf ears to many families around the County. Answer: Agree that we wish the BoE had reached out however we are open and willing to work with the BoE to discuss this plan as well as other solutions that perhaps have not already been brought to the table. As far as replacing schools: We have recommended that the BoE and BoCC fund all necessary and need st repairs at ALL existing schools to bring them up to 21 century standards. See pages 26-28 of the proposal. We have also tried to come up with some ideas on how these repairs can be made without raising taxes, which is certainly a hot button for many residents in the County. It is beyond comprehension that many of the schools could have been allowed to fall into the state they are in today. If we are able to get an audience with the BoE we would certainly ask about the 2009 Comprehensive Facilities Study (http://fpc.ucps.k12.nc.us/php/ComprehensiveFacilitiesStudy.php), Which indicated some may schools may be beyond repair and need replacing. They need to provide an explanation as to why repair was viewed as the better option over rebuild. There should not be a school in the county that does not meet the needs of the community it serves. Question: Thank you to the entire team that came up with this plan. We really appreciate all of the time you put into creating this plan and meeting with some members of the BOE and BOCC. Answer: Thank you! We are ready and willing to have discussions with the BoE and BoCC on how we can help. We have indicated several times that they have a very talented pool of people that are willing to work for free to come up with a better solution than redistricting yet again. Hopefully this plan, although not perfect, will get their attention. Question: And Answers: I was reading your plan and had a question concerning your proposed cluster configuration for Cuthbertson, and why it is different then the rest of the clusters. Why would we have schools that are K-2, 3-5, 6-8 and then one school that spans them 1-6? This seems inefficient and confusing. You have Kindergarten students switching schools after 1 year, that would seem to uproot them after only a short time in a school environment. You also have some 6 graders in a school with 1st graders when other 6th graders get to be in school with 7th and 8th graders. Does this allow the 6th graders in the older environment opportunities to mature socially and educationally whereas the 6th graders in the elementary schools mature at a slower pace given their environment? The Cuthbertson cluster certainly is unique! The biggest factors that contributes to the way the Cuthbertson cluster is designed are sheer number of buildings and higher enrollment. Cuthbertson is the only cluster among the four being addressed that does not have at least three full feeder schools. Newtown and Kensington are the only current full feeder schools. Weddington Elm and Waxhaw Elm both also feed some students into Cuthbertson. If the BoE had gone through with the original plan of two Elementary schools on the Cuthbertson campus, (or even 1!) we could design it just like the others. We crunched the numbers every single way possible while trying to keep these schools under capacity and avoid redistricting to another Cluster. This is the configuration that works with McKibbons projected enrollment So does it have some quirks? Absolutely. We still feel that keeping families that live in the Cuthbertson cluster!in the Cuthbertson cluster is of bigger benefit and more efficient that pushing families out to the Parkwood cluster which presents its own inefficiencies and challenges. It also keeps all neighborhoods in the Cuthbertson Cluster together, which is not happening under the BoE redistricting proposal. You may also note slide 32 in the presentation, which indicates the need for a new building in the Cuthbertson cluster, which would allow the Cuthbertson cluster to be set up like the others in the plan. Hopefully, everyone will appreciate the ability to stay in the Cuthbertson cluster and be willing to make the required short-term adjustments until a new building can be constructed.

Also, why are you only suggesting we reconfigure some of the UCPS clusters? We are only recommending reconfiguring Clusters that are facing overcrowding issues over the next five years. If a Cluster was not included in the plan, they do not have an overcrowding issue. It would seem an inefficient way to run a countywide school district to have different clusters run and setup in a different way? The BoE can certainly implement a similar Cluster configuration across every cluster in the District if they choose to. We designed this plan out of necessity as a way to keep all students attending schools in the same Clusters they are today. The 4 Clusters being addressed in the plan are the only 4 with an overcrowding issue. It seems incredibly inefficient to us to bus 5,800 students across the county when the actual number over capacity is less than 300. There are a number of districts across the country looking at different ways to better utilize their facilities due to overcrowding, under crowding, aging buildings, etc. Finally, on capping, why would caps protect a new family buying an existing home? This person is new to the community much like a person buying a new construction home. They should get no greater protection in my opinion. The Address based Caps we suggest on pages 29-30 of the plan protect the existing residents of the Cluster and their property values. Property values although not viewed as important by the BoE in their redistricting proposal and current capping plan, are incredibly important to the homeowners in Union County.

Question: Thank you for putting this together. While I agree with it 100% (my children would be redistricted to the Parkwood cluster) I do have a question. Right now, almost 6000 children would be affected under the BOE's plan which is 6000 too many. However, won't the new plan move and affect even those that weren't going to be touched? Just wondering how they will feel being affected? Answer: This proposed plan hopes to protect all students from redistricting now and in the future. The history of redistricting in UCPS may move anyone in the future. Again, this is part of a long-term solution, not a short-term band-aid. All students stay in their current cluster. The schools have been reconfigured to be academically and developmentally beneficial. Question: Thanks to all that worked on putting this together. I do have a question regarding the maps. They are not easy to follow and the tables that the BOE produced by subdivision eliminated any confusion. Can you insert those as well? Can you also confirm the proposed cluster for the Quintessa and Blackstone communities? Answer: Sorry we were not able to use better maps to display. We used the cluster maps that BoE had already put out as they give a fairly decent idea of where the middle and high schools are in each Cluster and went from there. If you view the plan on a desktop or if you print out the plan they are much easier to read. We would not recommend trying to read the maps on a phone. The key to remember with this plan is that whatever Cluster you are in today is the Cluster you would stay in under this plan. Specific to the Developments of Quintessa and Blackstone. They are both in the Weddington Cluster today. They would both stay in the Weddington Cluster under this plan. We have recommended all students in Grades K-2 would attend Antioch Elm. All students in Grades 3-4 would attend Wesley Chapel Elm. All students in Grades 5-6 would attend Weddington Elm. All students in Grades 7-8 would attend Weddington Middle and all students in Grades 9-12 would attend Weddington High. This plan keep all current Weddington Cluster students in the Weddington Cluster while keeping all schools under UCPS Cap levels for each school.

Question: Would it be possible to post the Q&A's that you're receiving to either the UCPS Redistricting webpage or to one of the FB pages. This way we can see the answers and you won't be asked the same questions over and over. Answer: This pretty much answers your question! But yes, we will plan on updating this FAQ as we receive more questions and posting it as often as it is updated.

Question: This is a great plan! I have worked in districts like this and Medway, Massachusetts works theirs like this. Creates partnerships early in a child's education future and more equity in the town. Wonderful job. Also, St Matthew will be opening a PreK- 5 elementary school on there property in Waxhaw. Approx 800 students to open 2016. Answer: Thank you! We have heard of similar plans working very well in other states and crowded school districts. We are aware of St Matthews opening in Waxhaw. However since the McKibben report does not take into account any charter or private schools scheduled to be opened, we have left that data out of our calculations as well. Question: After-school - how will these programs work? I know a lot of working parents struggle to get to a neighborhood school in time for elementary kids. Now that the elementary kids will be split into multiple locations - will hours be different - can buses from further schools drop kids off to neighborhood schools on the regular bus routes as one of the stops etc.? Also - further drive times to get to kids. After care should not change and most of the schools in the Clusters are within only a couple of miles of each other. It would be much harder under the BoE redistricting plan for parents commuting from Charlotte to arrive on time to pick up from After School. One of the major concerns of redistricting was time on buses. I think this plan will actually cause a lot more kids to be on buses longer. Since a bus is no longer picking up K-5 in one neighborhood - that bus will have to go to multiple neighborhoods to pick up in order to fill them. This means that the times get pushed earlier and earlier and routes get longer to fill the bus. Does it affect the efficiency the BOE is concerned with? Again- probably not a problem for middle/high but should be considered for elementary. Many school districts continue to pick up students in the same manner, but drop off at multiple schools. For example if you live in Wesley Oaks, the bus would pick up all K-6 kids on one bus and then drop off at necessary schools. Every NC school district operates standardize comprehensive computer assisted school bus routing and scheduling software. Given the substantially less number of miles in our plan versus the redistricting proposal, we are assuming we can stay within the efficiency percentage. However, we would need to consult the TIMS (transportation information management system) software to be sure. How about looking a blend of this option. I really like creating a 5-6 school to help with that age group. However- rather than make all the other schools so limited in grades - can they all stay K-4? For example Sandy Ridge Cluster - make Sandy Ridge 5-6 but keep Rea View and Marvin K-4 so even less kids are affected? 5-6 would be like a middle school and then 7-8 becomes junior high in the current middle schools. It will also allow easier bus routes as mentioned in number 2 above and the 5th graders will think it is cool. Might also help with after-school concerns especially if they can get the start and end times of 5-6 to be similar to the middle school times. I am betting most parents of 5th graders can allow their kids to come home on their own if they knew they would only be home for a short period of time. Also - if the 5-6 elementary is strategically placed - they may even be able to ride the middle school bus with that stop being one extra stop. It works for Sandy Ridge/Marvin Ridge. Weddington/Weddington middle, and Porter ridge 1. Porter Ridge 2 and Cuthbertson are the trickier ones. Its too bad that Cuthbertson Elementary wasn't built or it would have worked there too. Answer: Our goal was to come up with another option that keeps students in their current cluster. Of course, every cluster has individual needs and those should be taken into account, should the BOE decide to academically restructure. For the Marvin cluster, this restructuring works, but not for Cuthbertson or Porter Ridge.

Question: First of all I would like to thank the committee for putting in this hard work. My questions is this...How many students are there currently in the Marvin, Weddington, Porter Ridge I & II Clusters (the proposed areas for this new format)? And then, how many in those clusters are currently proposed to be reassigned? Sorry. Meant to add Cuthbertson too. Basically, all of the clusters that are affected. Total number in that cluster vs. how many proposed to be reassigned in the current plan. Answer: Approximate number of students in the four overcrowded clusters: 9641 elementary students, 5364 middle school students, and 5963 high school students. 5800 (district wide) to be reassigned, but our concern is students that are not in overcrowded clusters are being affected.